Sunset Memories
by Tragedy Catalyst
Summary: STOPPED AND ABANDONED
1. Default

4-13-05

Yo! I decided to rewrite The Simple Life Can Be Better Than You Think so yeah. This was my very first fanfiction and I guess it really sucked. Now that I have a bit more experience, I want to redo it heh. It takes place in my file of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. Hope this version's better than the last!

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon and the original characters belong to Natsume and not meh….

* * *

_"Do you remember your cousin Dave, Marissa?" Mother asked._

_"Of course I do!" _

_"Well, your mother and I decided that you should get out of the city for a while." Father smiled._

_"Eh?" _

_"We want you to stay with your cousin on his farm!" She exclaimed._

_"Really? For how long?"_

_"Well, we were thinking, you need to enjoy life's little, simple pleasures, so about a year." He said slowly._

_"WHAT!"_

_

* * *

_"Hey, wake up." I felt someone shake me. My eyes flickered open and I sat up from the bunk. 

"What's wrong?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Mineral Town is in sight!" The young girl grinned.

"Really?" I slipped on my shoes and hurried out to the top deck. A dazzling beach was in view and I could see small people waiting near the dock. A whole year…on this small island…I wonder how it'll be.

My suitcase and duffel bag were loaded off the ship and I waved goodbye to the friends I had made while sailing. I looked around the beach and saw a few people just lounging around during the early summer heat. My attention was brought towards a quite stubby man with brown hair and too much red on talking to a tall, muscular, young man who had messy brunette hair and beautiful sapphire eyes. He looked over and I saw his features spring up in joy.

"Marissa!" He yelled running over.

"Dave!" We caught each other in a big, laughing hug.Can this really be the same cousin I used to know?

* * *

Yes, yes. I'm aware that it's extremely short but c'mon give me a break. First day of summer vacation and I'm already tired. I got really bored and remembered about this so I decided to work on it. I wrote one sentence and called it quits and worked on this ending author's note…I'll get started on the next chapter. I hope you like this version better; it's quite different. Well see ya. 

Kokuyougan aka Tera Hikashi

5-26-05


	2. is being rewritten

Second chappie up! GOMENASAI for taking so long!!! Okay, sorry about the mistakes in chappie 1, forgot to reread after finishing. I was too happy hehe. Well anyways I'll fix some of the mistakes in my a/n. The farm was not snow covered. It was green. Nice and green even though I do love snow. Right, and she crawled into bed not beg. I think that's it... Thank you to Kirjava Deamon, Jerseyan Iris and Ragin' white tiger for actually reading my story and for the wonderful pointers . Check out my newest story One Year Six Months. It's a Fruits Basket song-fic to Yellowcard's (WOOT Yellowcard) One Year Six Months. Okay, on with the disclaimer and the story!

'This is Marissa's thoughts'

**Disclaimer:** Harvest Moon and the original characters belong to Natsume. All I own is the plot, my imagined characters and this penny. Yoink Hey! My penny's gone! T.T Okay, so all I own are the plot and my imagined characters...

* * *

Marissa awoke to unfamiliar sounds. Instead of the loud roar of ongoing rush-hour traffic, she heard birds singing. Then her mind clicked and she remembered she was on Dave's farm. Marissa got out of bed and went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth, washed her face and put in her contacts.

Back in her room, she changed into a white t-shirt, baby blue spaghetti strap over top and a denim skirt. Marissa brushed her hair and put it up in a high ponytail with a blue bond. She put in light blue button earrings and put on her crescent moon necklace. Marissa made her bed and went into the kitchen. No one was around and last night's stuff was still on the table. Marissa arranged the trophies in the cabinet and placed the picture books on top of the TV. The box went in the corner between the tool chest and calendar. 'Hmm, I think I'll make breakfast for everybody.' When Marissa says "make breakfast" she means boiled eggs. She had seen her mother make raisin bread recently, so she was going to try her hand at making that.

Karen woke up and turned to the right. She let out a yell a/n I know that would be a great cliffhanger spot but that would be waay too short. Marissa ran in, holding Squall, to see what was the matter. Upon seeing Squall, Karen jumped, literally jumped, out of bed and grabbed her baby.

"I'm sorry. Did you yell because you didn't see Squall next to you? I'm sorry." Marissa said.

"Oh, umm, why did you have Squall?" Karen asked.

"Well, he started crying and he didn't stop after awhile so I supposed you guys didn't wake up..." she trailed off. Marissa felt guilty for worrying Karen.

"Oh, it's okay. Thank you for getting him." Karen said.

Marissa smiled and said, "I was just about to feed him, so uhh ya know."

Karen nodded, "Right." They left the room and Karen fed Squall a bottle of Hot Milk.

"Er, how come Dave didn't wake up even with all that racket?" Marissa asked.

"Dave can sleep through anything. Even hurricanes and storms. He's done it before." Karen laughed. Marissa smiled and checked on the raisin bread toasting in the oven.

Dave awoke, got ready, and found a breakfast of boiled eggs, raisin toast with butter and milk on the table. He kissed his wife and sat down to eat.

"Hey, where's Marissa?" Dave asked noticing his cousin wasn't around.

"After she made breakfast, she said she wasn't hungry so she had a cup of milk and went off to do her chores." Karen told him. Dave looked stunned but ate his breakfast fast so he could go do his chores and work.

Marissa threw the fish food cluster into the middle of the pond and watched the fish eat the cluster as it broke apart into little pieces. She moved on to the chicken coop. First, Marissa put four eggs in her backpack, she had emptied earlier, with the jar of honey. "Three regular eggs and three jars of mayonnaise." She recited to herself. After selling the items she was supposed to sell, Marissa poured a pile of ground corn in each chicken stall. She picked up one of the chickens and smoothed out the ruffled white feathers. Noticing a tag, she looked at the words. "Eggbert Chicken 1 Summer/3." the tag read. 'That means, Eggbert was Dave's first chicken.' Marissa put down Eggbert and left the chicken coop. She noticed a large weed in the field as she was walking back to the house. Going over to the plant, Marissa pulled the weed out. She saw more weeds and pulled them all out. Happy with her work, Marissa went in the house.

Karen was on the floor playing with Squall. Marissa smiled remembering fond memories and put the honey and two of the eggs in Dave's refrigerator. She put the other two eggs in her trunk that Dave had told her will keep food fresh no matter how long you leave it in there or no matter what else you put in the trunk. Marissa took her black side mini bag a/n ya know what I'm talking about. Those things that are like small and they hang at your side. Mudd makes em. off the hook on her door and slung it on. 'I think I'm gonna go exploring around town.' She told Karen her plans and left the farm.

At the crossway, Marissa went straight and told herself she would go around on the return route. She approached the first shop which seemed to be a blacksmith's. Entering the shop, she spotted and old man sitting next to a large bed of glowing coals. There was a boy wearing a baseball cap, that said UMA on it, pacing back and forth in front of a forge. The old man noticed her first.

"Ahh welcome! I'm Saibara the local blacksmith. I haven't seen you around before, young miss."

"A pleasure to meet you sir. My name is Marissa Mizuki, I'm staying at Milk & Honey Farm with my cousin." Marissa politely said bowing.

"Oh? So you're Dave's cousin Well, I welcome you to Mineral Town. Ahh I have a welcome present for you." Saibara slowly got up and went through the door to the back room. Marissa noticed the boy, who seemed to be around the same age as Dave, looking at her.

"Hi there! What's your name?" Marissa asked him smiling.

"Gray..." He said ducking underneath his hat.

"She's so beautiful...urk What am I thinking?! I'm married!!! Must remember to stop by the church later and need to get a present for Mary." Gray thought, mentally hitting himself.

Saibara came back and gave Marissa a gold and silver picture frame.

"If you get a picture that has great sentimental value and reminds you of a wonderful memory here in Mineral Town, you can put the picture in this frame." He told her.

"Thank you very much, sir! I'll definitely get a picture for this before I leave next year! Thank you!" Marissa exclaimed carefully putting the special frame in her backpack a/n she has her backpack and her mini bag purse thingy don't ask me why she has both she just does. She thanked him again, said goodbye to Saibara and Gray and left the shop.

The place next door to Saibara's was a vineyard. "Aja Winery." Marissa read off of the large sign. She entered the building and went through the door from which she heard noise coming from. The room was a kitchen and there was a black haired woman walking back and forth on one side of the kitchen.

The woman approached her, "Welcome to the Aja Winery! My name is Manna, what's your name? Oh! I remember! At our noon women's gathering a/n well that's what it is, right? the other day, Sasha told us that Karen told her that Dave's cousin was coming to visit! So, you must be Dave's cousin! What a nice boy, Dave is. He would have been perfect for my Aja if she was still here. Aja is my daughter. She left home some time ago. Oh dear, I'm talking too much again. the other women in town keep telling me to try to stop talking so much. Oh, there I go again. Right, so can I help you with anything, Marissa is it?" Marissa gaped at Manna. How could she talk so much in just one breath? Marissa regained herself and thought about how impolite she must be right now.

Quickly she said, "Nice to meet you, Manna. I was just checking out the village and this was my next stop."

"You'll be staying here for a while, I hear. Would you like to sample our products?"

"Er no thank you, I only drink alcoholic beverages at special occasions and something." Marissa told her.

"Oh, well, we sell grape juice also. Would you like to try some of that?"

"Umm sure."

Manna handed Marissa a cup of purple grape juice. Marissa slowly drank the sweet liquid and smiled as she finished.

"That's the most delicious juice, I've ever had!" she exclaimed. And she was telling the absolute truth. Never, in her seventeen years of life, had she ever drunken grape juice as sweet, with a bit of tangy, juice as juice from the Aja Winery. Manna smiled and gave Marissa a large jar of grape juice.

"Here, this is from us. Normally, grape juice costs 200 G, but you can have this for free. Wine costs 300 G for whenever a special occasion comes. Don't tell my husband, Duke, I gave you a free jar." Manna winked at her. Marissa thanked her and carefully put the jar in her backpack. They said goodbye and Marissa left the Aja Winery.

Marissa continued going straight on the path and came to a house that was connected to another building. She entered the house. A man who was sitting next to a basket of plants, greeted her. He was wearing a hiking vest, khaki pants and an explorer hat. Marissa guessed that he was a botanist.

"Hello, miss. Welcome to our house. My name's Basil, that's my wife Anna and our daughter Mary." He gestured at the two ladies behind him. Both had black hair and black glittering eyes. Mary had long hair, unlike her mother, that was in a braid. She had glasses and wore a white long sleeved shirt and blue no sleeve dress over it. Anna had short poofy-like hair and wore a cream colored dress. "May I ask your name?" Basil asked.

"I'm Marissa Mizuki, I'm staying on my cousin Dave's farm. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." she bowed.

"Ahh so you're Dave's cousin. Since you are a relative of our good friend Dave, come over whenever you want! We'd love to chat anytime." Anna said.

"Thank you very much." Marissa smiled.

"Our daughter here, is the librarian next door. So stop by if you want to borrow books. The library is open everyday except for Mondays and Festivals from 10-5." Basil added.

"Oh, that's wonderful! I love to read! So, perhaps I'll drop in later, eh?" Marissa asked. Mary smiled at her. "Well, see ya later!" Marissa left the house and entered the one next door to the library.

Near the front door was a kitchen, a table with four chairs and then there was a living room where an elderly woman was rocking in her chair while watching a little boy with black mushroom cut hair playing with a puppy.

"Er, hello." Marissa said walking up to the old woman. The old woman wore a knitted hat and was covered in comfy blankets.

"Hello there, dear. My name is Ellen. This is Stu and the puppy is Tim. You look a little familiar." Ellen said. Marissa smiled. "Ahh there it is. Your smile and your eyes look just like Dave's." Many people said that Marissa and Dave looked alike, their smile and the twinkle in their crystal blue eyes. Their fathers were brothers but didn't look a thing like each other, but the two only children of the brothers looked a lot alike.

"My name is Marissa Mizuki, I'm Dave's cousin from the city. I hope I'm not disturbing you, this morning."

"Oh, no. Not at all. I'm just watching my grandson until it's time for him to head down to the church to play with May from Yodel Farm. Stu why don't you say hi to Marissa."

"Hi! I'm Stu and I'm 7 years old! Would you like to see something?" The little boy asked.

"Sure." Marissa said smiling. Stu pulled something out of his pocket and beckoned for her to lean in close. When she did, he opened his hand and there was a grasshopper, a beetle and a wriggly worm. "Ooh. What wonderful crawlies you have there." Marissa smiled. Stu grinned at her and put the bugs in his pocket. " Well, I better get going. Still have lots to see and do. I'll come visit again. Bye!"

Next she visited the Mayor's house and they chatted about Dave and the city.

Marissa went on and entered a large building. The building was a grocery store. There was a man with black hair, a thin black mustache, he wore a white shirt, black pants and a red bow tie a/n I don't remember what color tie Jeff wears. I haven't played for a while. So today, his tie is red.. There was also a girl around Marissa's age, with medium black hair that jutted out in all directions near the bottom. She was inspecting rice balls. The man welcomed her and introductions were made. His name was Jeff and told Marissa about the different sections of the store, then left her to look around. Marissa first looked at the seeds then the fish food. She checked out the wrapping corner where you can get a present wrapped for 100 G. Then she joined the other girl in the cooking section of the store. The two girls smiled at each other and the girl got her rice balls and left to pay for them. Marissa bought a loaf of bread and 6 rice balls a/n Ya know how they come in threes. So she bought 2 packs of rice balls. It was 300 G for the food and Marissa said goodbye to Jeff and left.

The next building was a clinic. Inside, the clinic looked very sterile and organized. There were two couches and a magazine rack near the door, a young lady standing behind a reception desk, cabinets, two blue curtains that seemed to be covering a bed and something else and a stair case. The woman greeted Marissa, "Hello there. My name is--"

"Elli! Elli!" Stu exclaimed running into the clinic. "There's a new girl in town and she likes bugs! Isn't that cool!?" he continued.

"Hi there, Stu." Marissa said to the excited boy.

"There she is, Elli! That's her! Hi Marissa!!!"

Marissa smiled at him and a man with black hair and eyes and doctors coat came out from behind a curtain.

"Stu, can you lower your voice please? I need to work." he asked. His voice was soft and soothing.

"Sorry, Doctor. I'll be more quiet a/n I messed up on the grammar on purpose. C'mon I don't think anyone was that great at grammar when they were his age." Stu said.

The doctor went back behind the curtain after a nod of greeting to Marissa.

"Doctor's the only one other than Grandma and Dave, who can quiet down Stu." Elli told her.

"Er..." Marissa started.

"Doctor is my husband, we got married 3 seasons ago. His real name is Tim but everyone calls his Doctor." Elli explained.

"Oh. Well, I suppose I'll be going then. See ya around." Marissa said leaving. 'Now if I remember correctly, down that way is the church and Harvest Sprites' hut and down this lane is the inn. I think I'll go to the inn.' She went down the path to the inn.

Marissa entered the large inn and was greeted by an orange haired girl in a yellow t-shirt and blue overalls.

"Hi! I'm Ann! Welcome!"

"Hello, I'm Marissa. Nice to meet you."

"Hello, there. Welcome to the inn! I'm Doug, Ann's father and the owner of this place a/n the inn not the village if you were a tad bit confused by that statement." A man said from behind the bar. He had the same bright orange hair as Ann and had a thick mustache.

"Hello, sir. Nice to meet you." Marissa bowed. Doug and Ann told her about the inn, a few pointers about the townspeople and the best places for things. Marissa left with all their advice in mind.

She went along down the path and came to the place that Doug had told her was called Rose Square. The color of the faded red sandstone gave the area its name.. There was a bulletin board to her left, two faded red benches, a metal trash bin in between them, and a few potted plants on the opposite side of the square. Marissa went over to the bulletin board and read the latest bulletin. "Spring 8th Goddess festival from 10-6 in Rose Square Ask a certain lady the day before if you can escort them to the festival and watch her dance a welcome to the Spring." 'Hmm the Goddess Festival is in three more days...' She went off and plodded down a pair of sandy steps. The sight in front of her was breathtaking. Crystal blue water shimmering in the sunlight lapped onto perfectly tan sand. As if in a trance, Marissa made her way to the shoreline and gazed at the horizon where sky connected to water and went on endlessly. Two wooden structures were on the far side of the beach and a dock sprouted off the beach into the ocean.

Someone purposefully cleared their throat snapping Marissa out of her trance. She looked towards the source of the noise and a girl she had not noticed before was sitting on the dock.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you little "thing" there, but I just thought I should tell you that the tide is coming in." She said in a soft mellow voice. Marissa seemed to be contemplating this for a moment then looked down. The girl was right, water was swirling with sand around her shoes. Slightly blushing with embarrassment, Marissa moved backwards out of the water and joined the girl on the dock. Now fully aware, she recognized the girl as the same one from the grocery store.

"Hi, I'm Marissa Mizuki! Nice to meet you and arigato about ano snapping me out of it earlier."

"Oh, you speak Japanese? Rarely anyone does in this village. No problem about that. My name is Tam Irasezu a/n ee-ra-see-zu." She replied smiling sweetly. Marissa returned the smile and sat down next to her.

"Do you live in Mineral Town?" Marissa asked.

"Well, not exactly. We kind of live on the outskirts. Do you live here?"

"No, I'm from the city. I'm staying her for a year though on my cousin's farm."

"My brother owns a farm and we are from the city! That was quite some time ago though." The two girls chatted and before they knew it the sun was starting to set.

"How beautiful!" Marissa gasped. The setting sun lit the sky into shades of pink and orange while the rippling water turned a deep orange. Remembering something, Marissa dug in her backpack and pulled out her camera. She quickly took a few of the perfect scene then backed up and took them with Tam in the picture. She gave the camera to Tam who took pictures of Marissa. Then Marissa placed the camera on one of the thick poles and got a picture of Tam and her together. 'Perfect. Now I have a picture for the special frame!' Something white was forced into her vision. Tam was offering her a riceball. "Arigato, Tam-chan! Oh!" Marissa exclaimed. She got the bottle of grape juice out and gave it to Tam. "Try some it's delicious." Tam took a sip and smiled.

" It certainly is!" The two girls joked while they ate on the dock, laughter ringing in the air. As it steadily grew darker they said goodbye and made their ways home.

* * *

Yay I finished! 7 stinkin pages worth of typing. Is this better than before? I spaced it more. Thank you Jerseyan Iris for your wonderful help. And me friend Tam should be very happy now cause I told her I would give her a part in my fic and I did! Yup, Tam is a real person well her last name is different though. So I guess expect chapter 3 in another month or so XD. Please review even if you don't like it. When I see a new mail from fanfictionbot I always check them first. So please make me a happy camper and review! 


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